What you need to know about pet battles in patch 6.1 (even if you hate them)

This is my first official pet battling column on Blizzard Watch, so I figure I should introduce myself before we get to brass tacks. If you’re into pet battling you may know me better as Tamer Liopleurodon from BattlePetRoundup.com or as co-writer of the monthly pet spotlight over at Warcraft Pets. If you’re not, well I’ve heard some people don’t enjoy fun, so that’s cool.

I also know that some people in that silly little entertainment is boring subgroup are especially irate about that “useless” building by your town hall, the Menagerie. Luckily, come patch 6.1 there are a number of new changes that make unlocking it super easy, even if you just want that one achievement & don’t care otherwise.

The new quest Unearthed Magic grants a new battle stone which raises a single pet from any level to 25. If you have 0 pets ready to rock the menagerie, this is your catch-up mechanism. The quest itself is straightforward. After you pick it up, go to your mine. Loot a rock from a rock doodad. Complete the quest for the special rock from either Serrah or Lio. Then just summon any pet from your journal, select them, & use your Ultimate Battle Stone for a brand new level 25.

I want to emphasize that each rock is a single use and then poof, gone, so use it wisely.

If this is your very first level 25 pet, I’d recommend a Terrible Turnip or the Molten Corgi.

Both these pets have an ability which will never put an opponent below 1 health: Weakening Blow for the Turnip or Superbark for the Corgi. Having this ability makes taming almost any pet a sure thing. You don’t have to worry about errant crits taking out a Minfernal not that I’ve ever had this happen before and had to replace a mouse afterward because I threw it.

After one of those is on your team I’d recommend that you tame a frog, crab, moth and rabbit fairly quickly. All are available at high levels (though you may need to backtrack to Pandaria), and will not only help you defeat the Menagerie quest quickly, but will add a lot of versatility to your stable for the future. If you’re completely new to collecting pets, some additional choices for raising to 25 you may find on the auction house include the Anubisath Idol, Chrominius, a Gilnean Raven, the Clockwork Gnome or an Emerald Whelpling. Remember that once you have a level 25 on your team, you can also purchase or trade for level 25s and learn them. If you’re reading this before 6.1 you may want to begin combing the AH now.

Just as long as you don’t raise your Elekk Plushie (no matter how much it begs you with its sad button eyes) you’ll be on your way to a decent stable with very minimal effort.

The addition of the Ultimate Battle Stone means no more boring grinding or silly cascade-style shenanigans to get up to cap. As long as you have an alt or 2 roaming around Draenor you have enough stones to finally open up that menagerie you may be avoiding. If you only have one character with access to this quest, I’d recommend you do a little bit of backtracking to level 20 or so with taming before proceeding upward. It’s a rough time trying to tame pets near cap with just a single level 25.

Whoa wait, back up. Did I say that with just a couple random battle pets near cap you can open up the menagerie?

In 6.1 all the Pests involved in the Pets vs Pests quest have seen several significant nerfs. They no longer have the boss buff to cut incoming damage in half and all their offensive stats have been reduced as well. In other words, Carrotus Maximus ain’t so Maximus anymore. Though you can still win without doing so, I would caution you to make sure you keep family interactions in mind to absolutely ensure success. Pets with flying damage like Moths hit aquatic Gorefu harder than normal. Pets with beast damage like cats or crabs hit Gnawface the critter harder. Pets with aquatic damage like crabs or frogs hit elemental Carrotus Maximus harder.

When I say nerfs, that’s putting it mildly. On the PTR I tamed a few teams of pets on the spot in Frostfire Ridge and Shadowmoon Valley, then proceeded to nearly solo each pest with a motley assortment of mostly grey quality, level 23 & lower pets. As long as you keep those family interactions in mind and don’t come at Carrotus with a critter (which would hit him weakly) you should be able to unlock your menagerie from a standing start in a half hour or so.

To complement these buffs a wandering trainer has been added to the menagerie. Kura Thunderhoof for Horde or Erris the Collector for Alliance have a chance to visit with a daily quest every day, whether your menagerie is unlocked or not. If they don’t come by your garrison on a particular day, you can pack up & switch to a friend’s, which is a possibility with all the varied new Menagerie visitors in 6.1. Kura and Erris will use one of five different teams, all of which have adorable themes. However, the moves for these teams will vary as though the pets were wild, making strategy guides a tall order.

As an example, there’s a team featuring 3 Frostfur Rats, pictured above. Sometimes all 3 will have Darkness, and sometimes they’ll have Stampede, because this battle pulls from the moves Frostfur Rats have instead of having set moves & move orders like most tamers. Every time you enter the battle, their moves will change. As a result, for some teams it’s a better idea to enter battle, see what you’re facing, and then forfeit until you find a more favorable set of moves. I had a decent time against this particular team using beast-damaging Cat-type battle pets. I was relying on the heal from Devour to limp across the finish, and Darkness slashes any healing done in half. This made carrying a lowbie after rolling all Darknesses a tough feat, though you’re definitely going to want to make the effort.

The multiplier for using 2 level 25s to drag a lowbie pet through the battle & soak up all the XP (also called a carry) for Erris & Kura is remarkably high. When carrying a level 1 on PTR, Erris gave 5198 XP. For reference, battling Ashlei in Shadowmoon Valley on the PTR with a level 1 gives 4785 XP. Unfortunately Erris & Kura function like other tamers, not the menagerie, and you can no longer face them once you complete their quest.

For you more experienced battlers out there this is actually a nerf. The XP gained from endlessly 2-petting the menagerie proper was utterly gutted in return for this easy XP battle. I received 80 XP for carrying a level 1 against the Rockbiter, Stonechewer & Acidtooth team. No, that is not a typo. Eighty.

Say goodbye to the Jahan, Samm & Archimedes grind, fellow experts.

If these changes don’t persuade you to put on that Safari Hat, perhaps I can persuade you to go visit the distant Burning Crusade-era raids Mount Hyjal, The Black Temple and The Sunwell. Raiding With Leashes 3 is coming in 6.1 with 12 new battle pets to collect. The Black Temple alone hosts half of these, with the Reliquary Of Souls fight in particular dropping each of its 3 faces as different pets, so it’s time to fire up that alt stable & get grinding. My favorite is the sleepy little Leviathan Hatchling pictured above. All of the pets have fun little idle animations this time around, making them excellent even for non-battling collectors.

The reward for Raiding With Leashes 3 is K’ute, a teeny tiny Naaru which plays soft, tinkly music like its siblings. It only functions as a companion pet and cannot battle at all. This is a little disappointing but not too surprising. It seems kind of beneath a Naaru to throw down with my Perky Pug after all, and having my own personal Naaru is pretty cool all on its own.

Hopefully with one of these new changes, you’ll find something to love with pet battling in 6.1. If not, I hope they find a cure for being allergic to fun soon.